1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the manufacture of filter rods and smoking articles incorporating such filter rods and, more particularly, to systems and methods for analyzing a filter element associated with a smoking article, such as a cigarette, for determining an object insertion status with respect thereto.
2. Description of Related Art
Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge, roll or column of smokable material such as shredded tobacco (e.g., in cut filler form) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby forming a so-called “smokable rod” or “tobacco rod.” Normally, a cigarette has a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element comprises cellulose acetate tow plasticized using triacetin, and the tow is circumscribed by a paper material known as “plug wrap.” A cigarette can incorporate a filter element having multiple segments, and one of those segments can comprise activated charcoal particles. Typically, the filter element is attached to one end of the tobacco rod using a circumscribing wrapping material known as “tipping paper.” It also has become desirable to perforate the tipping material and plug wrap, in order to provide dilution of drawn mainstream smoke with ambient air. Descriptions of cigarettes and the various components thereof are set forth Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) (1999). A cigarette is employed by a smoker by lighting one end thereof and burning the tobacco rod. The smoker then receives mainstream smoke into his/her mouth by drawing on the opposite end (e.g., the filter end) of the cigarette.
The sensory attributes of cigarette smoke can be enhanced by applying additives to tobacco and/or by otherwise incorporating flavoring materials into various components of a cigarette. See, Leffingwell et al., Tobacco Flavoring for Smoking Products, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (1972). For example, one type of tobacco flavoring additive is menthol. See, Borschke, Rec. Adv. Tob. Sci., 19, p. 47-70, 1993. Various proposed methods for modifying the sensory attributes of cigarettes have involved suggestion that filter elements may be used as vehicles for adding flavor to the mainstream smoke of those cigarettes. U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2002/0166563 to Jupe et al. proposes the placement of adsorbent and flavor-releasing materials in a cigarette filter. U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2002/0020420 to Xue et al. proposes the placement of fibers containing small particle size adsorbents/absorbents in the filter. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,941,486 to Dube et al. and 4,862,905 to Green, Jr. et al. propose the placement of a flavor-containing pellet in a cigarette filter. Other representative types of cigarette filters incorporating flavoring agents are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,972,335 to Tiggelbeck et al.; 4,082,098 to Owens, Jr.; 4,281,671 to Byrne; 4,729,391 to Woods et al.; and 5,012,829 to Thesing et al.
Cigarettes having adjustable filter elements that allow smokers to select the level of flavor that is available for transfer into mainstream smoke have been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,677,995 to Kallianos et al. and 4,848,375 to Patron et al. Some proposed cigarettes may be manipulated, reportedly for the purpose of providing components of their filter elements with the propensity to modify the nature or character of mainstream smoke. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,297,038 to Homburger; 3,339,557 to Karalus; 3,420,242 to Boukar; 3,508,558 to Seybum; 3,513,859 to Carty; 3,596,665 to Kindgard; 3,669,128 to Cohen; and 4,126,141 to Grossman.
Some proposed cigarettes have a hollow object positioned in their filter element, and the contents of that object is reportedly released into the filter element upon rupture of the object in the attempt to alter the nature or character of the mainstream smoke passing through the filter element. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,339,558 to Waterbury; 3,366,121 to Carty; 3,390,686 to Irby, Jr. et al.; 3,428,049 to Leake; 3,547,130 to Harlow et al; 3,575,180 to Carty; 3,602,231 to Dock; 3,625,228 to Dock; 3,635,226 to Horsewell et al.; 3,685,521 to Dock; 3,916,914 to Brooks et al.; 3,991,773 to Walker; and 4,889,144 to Tateno et al.; US Pat. Application Pub. Nos. 2004/0261807 to Dube et al; and 2005/0070409 to Deal; US Pat. Application Pub. Nos. 2007/0095357 to Besso et al.; 20070012327 to Karles et al.; 2006/0174901 to Karles et al.; 2006/0144412 to Mishra et al.; 2006/0112964 to Jupe et al.; and PCT WO 03/009711 to Kim and WO 2007/060543 to Besso et al. Some proposed cigarettes may also have a capsule positioned in the filter element, and the contents of that capsule reportedly released into the filter element upon rupture of the capsule in order to deodorize the filter element after the cigarette is extinguished. See, for example, US Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2003/0098033 to MacAdam et al.
Commercially marketed “Rivage” brand cigarettes have included a filter possessing a cylindrical plastic container containing water or a liquid flavor solution. Cigarettes representative of the “Rivage” brand cigarettes are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,865,056 to Tamaoki et al. and 5,331,981 to Tamaoki et al., both of which are assigned to Japan Tobacco, Inc. The cylindrical casing within the filter reportedly may be deformed upon the application of external force, and a thin wall portion of the casing is consequently broken so as to permit release of the liquid within the casing into an adjacent portion of that filter.
A cigarette holder has been available under the brand name “Aquafilter.” Cigarette holders representative of the “Aquafilter” brand product are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,797,644 to Shaw; 4,003,387 to Goldstein; and 4,046,153 to Kaye; assigned to Aquafilter Corporation. Those patents propose a disposable cigarette holder into which the mouth end of a cigarette is inserted. Smoke from the cigarette that is drawn through the holder reportedly passes through filter material impregnated with water. A disposable filter adapted to be attachable to the mouth end of a cigarette has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,997 to Smith et al. A flavor-containing capsule contained within the disposable filter reportedly may be squeezed in order to release the flavor within the capsule.
In some instances, smokers might desire a cigarette that is capable of providing, selectively, a variety of different flavors, depending upon the smoker's immediate desire. The flavor of such a cigarette can be selected based on the smoker's desire for a particular flavor at that time, or a desire to change flavors during the smoking experience. For example, changing flavors during the smoking experience enables a smoker to end the cigarette with a breath freshening flavor, such as menthol or spearmint. Some smokers also desire a cigarette that is capable of releasing a deodorizing agent upon completion of a smoking experience. Such agents are used to ensure that the remaining portion of a smoked cigarette yields a pleasant aroma after the smoker has finished smoking that cigarette. Some smokers desire a cigarette that is capable of moistening, cooling, or otherwise modifying the nature or character of the mainstream smoke generated by that cigarette. Because certain agents that can be used to interact with smoke are volatile and have the propensity to evaporate over time, the effects of those agents upon the behavior of those cigarettes may require introduction of those agents near commencement of the smoking experience. Such means for providing a smoker with the ability to enhance a sensory aspect of his/her smoking experience, and the extent or magnitude of that sensory experience, can be accomplished by allowing the smoker to purposefully select a cigarette incorporating smoke-altering solid objects such as flavor pellets, flavor capsules, flavored or non-flavored strands, exchange resin beads, adsorbent/absorbent particles, or possibly various combinations thereof, into cigarette filters, in a rapid, highly automated fashion.
To that end, apparatuses and processes have been developed for providing filter rods for use in the manufacture of smoking articles, wherein each rod has one or more objects (e.g., rupturable capsules, pellets, strands, or combinations thereof) disposed along its length such that, when the rod is subdivided into rod portions, each rod portion includes at least one of such objects. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,085 to Deal, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such apparatuses can incorporate equipment for supplying a continuous supply of filter material (e.g., a filter tow processing unit adapted to supply filter tow to a continuous rod forming unit). A representative apparatus may also include, for example, a hopper and rotating wheel arrangement such as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0068540 A1 to Thomas et al. (and incorporated herein by reference), for supplying the objects to the filter material. In still other instances, multiple objects (i.e., capsules, pellets) and/or strands; or at least one of a capsule, pellet, or strand in combination with at least one other of the capsule, pellet, or strand; can be inserted into the filter material by an object-insertion unit. Arrangements for inserting strands/objects into the filter material are disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/461,941 to Nelson et al. and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/760,983 to Stokes et al., which are incorporated herein by reference.
Typically, during the manufacturing process, the filter material is formed into a continuous rod having the objects positioned within that rod and along the longitudinal axis thereof. The continuous rod then is subdivided at predetermined intervals so as to form a plurality of filter rods or rod portions such that each rod portion includes at least one of the objects therein. In instances of the objects comprising, for example, a capsule and/or a pellet, and also including a strand, the capsules and/or pellets may be disposed at predetermined positions within and along the filter rod or filter element, while the strand, if any, extends through the filter rod or filter element.
However, such apparatuses and processes for inserting objects within the filter rod may produce some defective filter rods or portions thereof. That is, one or more of the objects inserted within a filter rod may be, for instance, missing, misoriented, or, in the case of rupturable elements, already ruptured. As such, it may be desirable to be able to detect such defective filter rods of portions thereof, such that any defective filter rod, or at least the defective portion(s) thereof, can be removed from the manufacturing process. In this manner, several benefits may be realized such as, for example, increasing the yield of the manufacturing process for such smoking articles, and preventing smoking articles having such defective filter rods from reaching consumers. An infrared inspection/detection system using visual detection sensors to detect and inspect objects having a contrasting shade or color with respect to the filter element, and for relaying information regarding such an object (or absence thereof) within the filter rod, is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0068540 A1 to Thomas et al. and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/760,983 to Stokes et al., which are incorporated herein by reference. However, such inspection/detection systems may be limited as applied in such a manner due, for example, to the variety of objects that may be inserted into the filter element of a smoking articles and the resulting variety of possible defects that could occur. Further, the inserted object(s) may not have the contrasting shade or color with respect to the filter element, required for such inspection/detection systems to function as disclosed.
As such, there exists a need for an improved detection/inspection system and method applicable to the variety of objects, and combinations of such objects, that can be inserted into a filter element of a smoking article. Further, such an inspection/detection system should be capable of determining the variety of defects that may be possible with the aforementioned variety of objects. It would be further desirable to be able to detect/inspect such filter elements in either an “on-line” manner during the manufacturing or production process, or an “off-line” manner such as during an inspection or quality control process outside the manufacturing or production process, as appropriate. Such an inspection/detection system should also be capable of detecting/inspecting the objects with respect to the filter element, without requiring particular attributes of the objects such as a contrasting shade or color with respect to the filter element.